COM grant expands free GED, workforce training program
Students looking to enter the workforce quickly with in-demand skills will have a new option, thanks to the Accelerate TEXAS grant awarded to College of the Mainland.
The grant allows students lacking a GED or high school diploma or with limited English
skills to start job training now. Students may earn business; welding; medical coding;
certified nurse assistant; machinist; or heating, ventilation and air-conditioning
certificates while working toward their GED certificate.
The program offers scholarships covering tuition, books and fees for students who
qualify. It will continue the success of the previous Accelerate TEXAS grant that
the college received to allow students to earn their GED certificate and welding;
medical coding; certified nurse assistant; or heating, ventilation and air-conditioning
certificate.
“We can start people in their vocational pathway before they finish their GED,” said
COM Director of Adult Education Josh Hayes. “Not only are we extending the number
of slots in our Accelerate Texas grant program, we’re leading two other colleges in
a program that’s been successful for us.”
COM is the lead administrator of the grant for Lee College and Brazosport College.
The grant will allow the college to add up to 100 students to its current 200 slots.
Accelerate TEXAS programs help underprepared adults to complete high-demand career
training programs while they are enrolled in classes that improve their reading and
math skills. Students may work toward a GED while they are training or be learning
English as a second language.
“I needed a career. I’d worked at a local feed store and it was a basic minimum wage.
Without (the Adult Education Program) I’d probably still be there,” said Daviana Tucker,
who graduated with her GED last fall and is now pursing a welding certificate. “(Career
Navigator) Roger Mora has taken me step by step.”
The Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board funds Accelerate TEXAS and provides
services at state community colleges in partnership with federally-supported adult
education and literacy programs funded by the Texas Workforce Commission.
For more information on the COM Adult Education Program, visit www.com.edu/adulted.